Haouas in custody for domestic violence: the case that could cost the player of the XV of France

He swore that his legal setbacks had to be combined with the past. He spoke incessantly of youthful mistakes. Of this rugby that had made him grow and avoid plunging further into delinquency. But Mohamed Haouas is again in the crosshairs of justice, and this time for alleged facts could not be more recent.

The right pillar of the XV of France and Montpellier was placed in custody Friday around 18 p.m. for domestic violence. An hour earlier, the player with 16 selections for the Blues attacked his wife in the city center of the Hérault prefecture. According to our information, Mohamed Haouas chased his girlfriend before hitting her and putting a sweeper next to the Polygone shopping center.

Arrested shortly after, the 29-year-old forward had no choice but to admit the facts during his three-hour hearing, where he was assisted by his lawyer Marc Gallix, Saturday morning at the central police station in Montpellier. The police have videos where we see the massive player (1.85 m, 122 kilos) attacking the young woman who should, according to several sources, not file a complaint. He must remain in police custody, extended Saturday, until Sunday when he will be brought before the prosecutor at 10am, probably with a view to being tried in immediate appearance on Tuesday.

Already sentenced to 18 months suspended prison sentence

"I will make every effort to ensure that he is placed under judicial control and not in pre-trial detention before his trial, says the Parisian his lawyer. His wife does not want him to go to jail to preserve their two children. »

The father of the family will in any case still find the court of Montpellier. In February 2022, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison suspended and a fine of 15,000 euros for a series of five burglaries perpetrated in 2014 in the Montpellier region. On May 12, the pillar, champion of France last season, had returned to the scene for another trial where he is accused of having, with other people, beaten a nightclub owner in the early morning of January 1, 2014.

"I hope not to set foot here again, I think that for ten years, I have evolved in my life," he promised at the bar in this case, whose judgment is reserved on June 30, where the prosecutor requested two years in prison suspended probation and praised the trajectory of Haouas, raised in a sensitive district of Montpellier.

This new trial that awaits Mohamed Haouas in this case of domestic violence exposes him to a new judicial sentence, up to three years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros. The courts could also decide to revoke his suspended sentence and sentence him to serve a prison sentence.

The question of his sporting future in the France team and Clermont arises

A prospect that darkens his sporting future, while the right pillar had chosen at the end of 2022 to leave Montpellier a year before the end of his contract to commit to Clermont for three seasons. Contacted, the Herault club did not respond to our requests. "We have no information on this case at the moment, so we will not comment until we have any," the ASM replied, when asked about the case.

But his judicial future jeopardizes this new start of the one who said he wanted to "focus on sport and rugby". And in parallel, on its prospects with the XV of France. If the French rugby federation does not speak for the moment, this file is closely followed. A speech by the staff could take place in early June. From 6 to 9, the FFR brings together 23 players from teams not qualified for the semi-finals of the Top 14, which is the case of Haouas, before the announcement on June 21 of the list of 42 players to prepare for the World Cup.

A World Cup at home to which the player does not apply in a position of strength. Firstly because the one installed as holder in his post by Fabien Galthié at the beginning of his mandate has descended in the hierarchy in favor of the Rochelais Uini Atonio. Then because of a 2023 Six Nations Tournament that came down to eleven minutes and a red card taken for a headbutt against Scotland.

After his four-week suspension, the stalwart played four games with Montpellier, the last of which ended in a defeat (26-27) against Brive and an altercation with his manager Philippe Saint-André in the locker room. "I have only one desire, it is to encourage him, to protect him," said the coach of the Blues Fabien Galthié. But today, Mohamed Haouas is hardly defensible.